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WITH
A RUDIMENTARY TREATISE ON THE A.RT, PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS FOR
ITS EXERCISE, ANDJE.XAMPLES TAKEN FROM ILLUMINATED MSS.
BY

F. DELAMQTTE.

: LOCKWOOD & co., 7, STATIONERS' HALL COURT,

LUDGATE HILL.
18/4.

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 '

6639

I'KINTKl) IIY

.
1
11KOOKS, DAY AN
CATE STREET, W.C.

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PAGE.

Preface \.

PART I.

History, Definition, and Characteristics of Illumination . . vii.

Reference to Specimens at the British Museum . . . xxvii.

PART II.

Practical Directions

Colours

Appendix
........... xxxii.

xxxiii.

xliv.

Monograms :
7th and 8th centuries
i
the I >ible of Charles the Bald, Qth century ...
From a Bible, I2th century

Opus Anglicum
Hours of S. Louis
Lcs Mcrveilles du Monde, 1409
Chronicles of England, Edward I V vii.

Hours of Henry Y 1. 1
Y JJJ
Hours of Anne of Brittany j x

i4th and 1
5th centuries Initials x
Ditto x ;

Italian Initials

Outlines of the above .... xiii.

x jj

to xx.
 1

THE taste for illumination continues to spread, the

want of an elementary work on the art becomes more
and more keenly felt. Persons possessed of real
artistic skill turn their attention to it, and after

designing and executing work which, according

to all the rules of art known to them, ought to

produce a correct and pleasing result, are amazed at the

ungainly conglomeration which is the reward of their
labour. The secret of this is, they are unacquainted with
the fundamental principles of the art. Others, setting to
work in a safer way, place before them a specimen of
mediaeval illuminating work, and endeavour to produce
an accurate copy of it they too are amazed at finding
;

that, after all the pains bestowed on it, their copy has an
effect so different from that of the original. The secret
of thisis, they are unacquainted with the peculiar method

of manipulating the colours, &c., used in illuminating.

What both need is, elementary instruction in first the

principles and, secondly the practice of the art.

;

It is to supply this want that the PRIMER '

OF
'

ILLUMINATION has been conceived. It contains

T
J,
*

v. PREFACE.

just so much instruction on the history and principles of the art,

as may serve to fix on certain
bases, definite
wandering the
and somewhat hazy notions of people on the subject, and enable
them, by reference to good examples, to erect their own super-
structure on a certain foundation and just so much instruction in the
;

practical part of the art as may enable them, in a great measure, to teach
themselves how to practise it. Advice is also given on the selection and
purchase of colours, instruments, &c., and a progressive set of studies,
printed both in outline and in the proper colours, and gold, is added to
furnish models for copying.

Incidentally, an effort has been made

to correct a few of the prevalent

popular errors on the subject such, for instance, as that every illu-
minated service book is a 'missal,' and so forth and which errors
stand sorely in the way of the beginner's right comprehension of the

subject.
All the examples selected have been taken from undoubted authori-
ties, and will be recognized by persons acquainted with mediaeval
books.

-
 .

-I-

a work of a merely practical character anything like

critical or historical dissertation on the art of
r illumination would of course be out of place. The
'growing or rather reviving taste in this and neigh-
ouring countries which has during the last twenty or thirty
years brought to light such vast treasures of mediaeval art,
which had lain for three centuries buried under a heap of
pseudo-classical rubbish, has elicited amongst its most pleasing
features a host of works on illumination which, without
exhausting a
subject which is inexhaustible, have
least at
contributed largely to place this beautiful art on its proper

pedestal, and investigate and develope the rules by which it is

These works are of course of different pretensions
and varying beauty, though of the majority it may fairly be
alleged that they are magnificent and brilliant specimens of
typography? and that the research and ability displayed in their
contents are fully equal to the beauty of their illustrations.
From such works the history of the rise and progress, the
culmination and decadence of the art may be easily traced,
and a catena of characteristics constructed. The principal
defect exhibited by almost all these works is that their (ne-

cessarily) large price placesthem out of the reach of all but

the wealthy, and it may be added that even when access can be
obtained to them they are found to contain no practical directions
for cultivating and practising the art of which they treat.
vr/
f
 DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.

It is the object of this little workto supply this deficiency, to place within

every one's reach just the sort of information and instruction which a
master might be supposed to give his pupil, and to enable persons with a
taste for illuminating to answer for themselves the universally-asked question,
"
How am I to set about it ?"

HAT illumination really is, or rather what is and what is not illu-

mination, in the strict sense of the word, it not so easy to

is

define as might be supposed. Define it as ornamental letter

but every ornamental letter is not necessarily an illu-
writing ;

minated one witness our shop fronts for instance. Illumination

it is true, to them, and has been employed in some
extending,
instances with marked success but a mere tyro can select two specimens,
:

and say without a moment's hesitation which is and which is not illumination,
and yet it would puzzle an experienced illuminator to define logically the
difference. It is not however so material to hunt for definitions, as by ac-

quaintance and experience to acquire such a general knowledge of its leading

characteristics as will enable the mind to arrive at that by instinct, which it

is difficult to do by definition. For most purposes it may perhaps suffice to

define it as a peculiar system of ornamenting manuscript or letterpress, which

leaves the body of the matter intact, or only fills up the hiatus at the ends
of paragraphs, bestows on the initial letter or letters an ornamentation more
or less elaborate and profuse, extends that ornamentation along the top and
down the left side of the matter, or still further extending, envelopes the whole
in a sort of framework of colour, gilding; &c. This description will do for
addresses, charters, scroll work and the like, as well as for what have ever
afforded the greatest scope for illumination books.*
*
Single psalms, prayers, hymns, pieces of poetry, &c. written or printed with the aid of
illumination, are merely representations of leaves out of books.
 DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.

It has been announced already that there is no intention of

introducing into
this work a dissertation on the history of illumination. It is however essential
to the successful study of the art, even in its most moderate form, to obtain
some general notion of its rise and progress, and of the sort of works, and of
what dates to look into, for the best and most characteristic specimens. In
furnishing a key to this portion of the study, we propose to avail ourselves, by
way of illustration, of specimens, accessible to all without charge, namely, those
displayed in the glass cases of the king's library, and adjoining manuscript saloon
at the British Museum.
Where, when, and how the idea of ornamenting writings first sprung into
existence, is as immaterial as it is difficult to discover. It is the fashion to
its origin, in common with that of
ascribe many other arts and sciences, to the
East; and indeed, the presence at the Museum of several beautiful specimens
of oriental illuminated MSS. would appear to denote a very high condition of
the art in Persia and Hindostan at an early date ;
but in reality it is not improbable
that the art was springing into existence simultaneously, or nearly so, in several

parts of the world at once. The

styles of the oriental illumination already
alluded to, of the ancient Byzantine, of the early Roman, and the Hibernian
are fundamentally dissimilar, and probably came into existence independently
of each other. It is from the last-named country Ireland then far in advance
of all neighbouring lands in civilization and learning, that it seems most
probable England first received the art. History informs us of what was done
for the then inhabitants of this country by missionary monks from the island

of St. Patrick, and there can be no doubt they would bring their service

books, or at least the art of writing them, along with them, and so spread
the knowledge of their art side by side with that of their religion ; and it is
remarkable that one of the earliest, if not the earliest specimens of the art of
illumination extant in this country, is a copy of the Gospels made for Macbrid
Mac Dernan, in (as is supposed) the year 885, and now to be found in the

r
 1
DELAMOTTES PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.

library at Lambeth Palace. The style of this very early age of the art is quaint
but highly characteristic. It shares with the Byzantine a severity and simplicity
of outline, and an intricacy of interlacing in the details, which are very strik-

ing one specimen in our first page of examples, it

may be added, is taken from
this curious work.
Once inEngland the Hibernian element would naturally meet, mingle with
and finally be absorbed in the ever-progressing and improving tide of taste

setting in from the Continent, or spontaneously springing cut of the varying

developments of art and science in England itself. We are not therefore
surprised to find and this must ever be borne in mind that the science of
architecture and the sister arts of illuminating, metal working, wood carving,
embroidery, and perhaps we may add fresco painting, passed on hand in hand
through a nearly parallel course of development through the middle ages, all
culminating together, as far as chasteness of design and elegance of execution
were concerned, in the i3th and i4th centuries, and as far as profuseness
and richness of ornamentation were concerned, in the isth; and all together
sinking out of sight during the Reformation. And the reason why, in obtain-
ing a general view of the progress of one as illumination it is wise to keep

the others in mind, is, that each serves, and especially architecture as a sort of
nemoria tecbnica to the rest. Thus whilst the severe straight lines and
semicircles of the Norman school prevail, a corresponding simplicity of outline
characterizes the illuminations of the period ; the same grotesque lizard-

shaped monsters, which twine themselves round the capitals of the columns,
form the components or terminals of the initials in the service books ; and
even a resemblance may be traced between, at least, one kind of beading
and the exterior ornamentation of the writing. When the graceful and
luxuriant curves of foliage begin to steal into the pages of the MS. they are
to be found also forming the capital of the column, though here it must be
confessed the former somewhat outruns the latter a style of illumination

T
 I
DELAMOTTES PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION. II

generally known as the opus Anglicum, and claimed as the peculiar invention
of this country, having been in use more than a century before the foliage,
which is one of its characteristics, appears in the capital. Further on, when
flowers are added to foliage in the one, they appear in the other; when the
angular principle introduced into architecture, it shews itself in illumina-
is

tion ;
and when outline is in the one almost buried under prodigal elaboration
of detail, the other seems to have all the riches, animal as well as vegetable,
of the park and the flower garden, poured over its pages to smother the
text.

\
HE leading characteristics of the different principles of illu-

mination, as developed during an investigation into specimens,

of the changes successively introduced as above, will be found
to be
i st. The component parts of the initial itself are made the

subject of sometimes by the contortion

ornamentation;
of a dragon or some other pliable animal into a grotesque

parody of the shape or the letter; sometimes by forming

it of a combination of geometric figures, resulting from

crossing of lines, the whole terminating

an endless in

heads or other parts of the same sort of creatures ;

sometimes by the introduction of .foliage in a more or less integral

manner.
211 d. The ornamentation oozing over as it were beyond the limits of the

letter itself, extends in a straggling manner upwards and downwards

 12 DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.

or downwards and along, forming a partial fringe to the corner or

margin of the page.

3rd. The initial regains its simplicity of outline, but is laid upon a cartouche
of ornamental work or of diaper work, the species of ornamentation
mentioned in No. 2 being nearly detached from the letter, and form-
ing a kind of canopy or, as it is
customary to call it 'bracket'
over it.
4th. The bracket is extended all round the page, and becomes an illumi-
nated border. Illustrations, such as scenes, portraits, &c. are introduced
within. The initial dwindles, as does the space for the text, which
frequently occupies but a tiny islet, in the midst of a sea of rich
decoration.

I: HE whole of these resolve themselves into two leading prin-

ciples the one where the initial itself is the illumination, pnd
:

5 its and component parts are the subject of treatment.

outline
The
other, where the initial remains in its simplicity of outline,
and the ornamentation is bestowed on what surrounds it, or on
I that on which it is imposed.
>
Q(^
Our list of examples from the British Museum will be found to

l\^ \ contain specimens of nearly all the different styles we have alluded
to, and to display most of the leading characteristics. It is hardly

necessary to add, that there are vast treasures of this art lying at
the same place, and to be got at with a little trouble, and from
these would have been easy enough to have selected some more favourable
it

specimens of some of the styles ; and it is to be hoped that a larger proportion

-.-
I
 .
.1.

DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION. 13

of these treasures, than the somewhat meagre allowance at present placed

within the reach of the general public may some day be made
generally
accessible. In this work, for the reason
already stated, nothing has been
included which is not open to all the world to inspect.
It should further be

prefaced that the Italian specimens have been placed by themselves, partly
because the majority of them belong to a different school, in which the classical
element naturally introduces itself to a greater or less extent, and partly
because they well deserve a distinct examination, being in general far more richly
executed than the others, (and they belong besides all to one period, the latter

half of the isth and the very beginning of the i6th century.)
No distinction has been made between MS. and printed works in the selection,
because the large majority of the illuminations in the latter amounting in our
selection to all but one are done by hand, and are therefore quite as useful by

way of study as if they appeared on the most undoubted vellum MS. that had
ever borne the scrutiny of all the archaeologists. Separate mention also is made
of the Oriental illuminations.
It is perhaps hardly necessary to add that nearly all the specimens will be

found to have been taken from books, for the simple reason that by far the larger
proportion of all mediaeval illumination was bestowed upon them : of these
it not surprising to find Ecclesiastical works coming in for the largest share
is

of attention. The service books in use in mediaeval days,* in churches and

cathedrals, were numerous ; and being, as to a large part of their contents,
accompanied by the old musical notation, executed in a large bold type, were

necessarily of considerable size; indeed, as a general rule, about that of our

modern music paper, that is, rather larger than the prayer books generally in
use in our cathedrals in these days. Of these sen-ice books some of the
principal were the Missal or Mass book, the Lectionary, which contained the
lessons for each day, the Psalter, the Hymnarium or book of hymns, the Anti-

See Appendix.

I
sfls-

14 DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.

phonarium or anthem book these were in constant daily use. and there
:

were besides a number of other books containing offices, benedictions, c.

for special occasions. The book of private devotion, in use among the laity,

was called the book of Hours, as it contained prayers, psalms, &c. for all the
canonical hours during the day; and for the clergy and religious, there was
the Breviary as well. The above list will convey but a meagre notion of the
number and variety of the books in use in the middle ages, in connexion with
the service of the church. It may be added, by the way, that the libraries of
cathedrals, monasteries, and religious houses were well furnished with copies
of the Gospels, and of the other books composing the sacred volume ; of
which, occasionally, also copies found their way into the comparatively small
collections of great men. From the above sketch, however, it may be
gathered, what a field was afforded, by this variety of books, for the exercise
of the art under consideration. The large vellum sheets on which the various
offices were to be inscribed must have been a source of almost revelry to
the imaginations of such members of the monastic institution, always in
those days attached to a cathedral, as were the fortunate possessors of artistic
taste and it is probable that, to the monastic body, the work of illumination
;

was always generally, and through all the earlier centuries exclusively, con-
fided. It was not until it began to assume a place as a
recognized art, in all
probability, that regular professors and practisers of it sprung up outside the
walls of the monastery ;* but however and by whomsoever practised, there
was always plenty to be done besides the regular business of replacing, per-
petuating and increasing the contents of the cathedral or monastic
librar}
there were always great and wealthy men, desirous of
possessing for them-
selves, or of presenting to their friends or patrons, such books as a copy of
the Gospels, or, more generally, a book of Hours; and the richness and

*
There is good ground for supposing in Winchester, during the ah
that, I
century, there
was a regular school for the art.
 DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.

magnificence of the work executed, would bear a sort of exact proportion

to the liberality of the customer, or the greatness of the destined owner. It

was in this way that such splendid works came into existence, as the Gospels
made for Macbrid Mac Dernan, already mentioned ; the Lectionary presented

by Lord Lovell to the church of Salisbury ;

the celebrated Hours of Anne of
Brittany, generally understood to have been presented to her by Louis XII. ;

those of S. Louis, of Henry VII., of the Duke of Anjou, of Queen Mary ;

the

great Hours of the Duke of Berri ;

the golden Gospels; the Bibles written for

Charlemagne, for ;
and a host of other magnificent works
Charles the Bald
which, at this day, supply those specimens of the art which modern illuminators
take for their models, and occupy, in relation to it, the same place as the old
masters' pictures to painting, and the temples of Greece and Rome, and the
cathedrals of England and France, to architecture.

UT the art of illumination, though principally employed on

works connected with the services of the church, or with
private devotion,was far from being exclusively so occupied.
Chronicles and histories, and descriptions and travels, as well
^ as poems and other compositions, and the classics, all received
or less ornamentation, according to the same rule of proportion
jmore
laid down for service books, and books of hours. Dedications
[already
were common ;
and what we should now call a presentation copy,
was frequently adorned with magnificent illustration, in honour of the great

man under whose auspices the work issued, and of whom it was not unusual
to introduce a portrait into the title or first page, representing him 'as he

appeared' receiving the presentation copy from the author. Of this kind are
the Recollation of the Chronicles of England written for Edward the IV.,

1460; Capgrave's Commentary on Genesis, dedicated to Humphrey Duke of

\
I
1 6 DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.

Gloucester, 1438; Old Mandeville's Wonders of the World, i4th century;

Lydgate's poem, or rather translation of the Pelerinage de I'Homme, dedi-
cated to the great Earl of Warwick, 1430; and many others. Of the classics
many beautiful editions have come down to us, both in MS. and printed,
illuminated with exquiste taste the classic element being very naturally
introduced more liberally here than into the books of religion, or even of
local interest. The
i5th century is rich in such works; and Italy, as might
be supposed, produces the best. The King's Library, at the British Museum,
displays more, in proportion, of these specimens of the art than of any other ;
and many of them will repay careful study for the sake of their extreme

chasteness, the excellence of their taste, and the comprehensiveness of their

general arrangement.
It may be readily conjectured that books thus produced were exceedingly
valuable ; indeed, every one is aware what a serious and palpable effect the
price of books, before the introduction and development of the art of

printing, exercised on the spread of literature ; and though it was not every
copy of every work that was made the subject of those brilliant appliances of
red, and blue, and gold, which glitter on the leaves open beneath the glass
cases at the Museum, yet even ordinary and less pretentious works received
some sort of simple ornamentation,
principally in the shape of giving the
of chapters or paragraphs in colour, filling up the vacant spaces
initial letters

at the end of either with a simple outline flourish, somewhat resembling the

earlier Greek borders, introducing red lines between the written ones, and in
'

general to use a very familiar phrase smartening up' the appearance of

the work. When, however, the artist and the skilled workman were called
in to exert their energies, and exercise their ingenuity on the more
magnificent, both of course had to be remunerated, proportion to the
in

prominence of their part in the production of the work, and the value of
their labour naturally entered largely as an almost principal item into the
 I
DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.

heavy prices paid for such books it may be added, however, that the cost of
:

binding formed generally an almost equally extravagant item in the calcula-

tion, to understand which, it will merely be necessary to look into one or two
of the cases, in the rooms we have referred to, specially devoted to specimens
of magnificent binding. Under these circumstances the value of illuminated
books need be no longer a wonder. We select, however, one instance by
way of closing this digression. The same Duke Humphrey, of whom mention
has already been made, presented in the year 1440, to the University of Oxford,
a collection of some 600 volumes, among which there were 120 which were
valued alone at i,ooo/., between i,8oo/. and 1,9007. of our present money.*
They were the most splendid and costly copies that could be procured, finely
written on vellum, and elegantly embellished with miniatures and illumina-
tions. The narrator feelingly deplores, by the way, the utter destruction or
removal of magnificent donation, with the single exception of a copy
all this

of a Valerius Maximus, by the pious visitors of the University, in the reign

of Edward VI., whose zeal was only equalled by their ignorance, or perhaps

by their avarice ; because these books, being highly ornamented, looked like
missals. It will be scarcely necessary to remind the reader that the treasures
of the art of illumination in this country suffered besides the weeding out
of the Reformation a second grand onslaught in the succeeding century,
when the troopers of the Commonwealth tore up and scattered to the winds
the beautiful contents of many a nobleman's and private gentleman's library,
from the precisely similar reason that they were full of popish pictures. The
first raid was on the ecclesiastical, the second on the lay libraries ; and that
so many treasures of art escaped, is probably owing to the circumstance,
that the more intelligent and provident, both of churchmen and laymen
and let it be added those amongst both who appreciated their books as highly,

* Of the collection of the Due de Berri we read that some of the Bib'.es cost livre c , a
300
Cite de Dieu 200, a Livy 35, and so forth.

3
: >:

1 8 DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.

or more so, than their plate concealed them in cellars and out of the way
places, before the storm fell On the whole, it would seem as though
on them.
England has suffered in this matter more than any other country, from the indis-

criminating fury of bigotted fanatics.

NOTHER class of subjects of the art to which allusion has
already been made, consists of
documents, such as
official

charters, grants, diplomas, &c., the dignity of which it appears

to have been not unusual to enhance by the aid of ornamenta-
tion. As can be gathered, however, the custom seems to have obtained
far as

more in Italy than in this country ; and it is only mentioned here, partly as
exhibiting a distinct department of the art, and partly because one of the most
striking specimens, to which reference will be made, is a grant by a Duke
of Milan to his wife, of lands in the territories of Novara Pavia and Milan, (1494,)
and which beauty of conception, excellence of execution, and above all
for

chasteness of tone, has not its equal among all the specimens adduced.
Such a grant is a sort of counterpart to our marriage settlement; but this
may be the best place to warn beginners not to confound law engrossing
with illumination. The former is or was, and might again become a beau-
tiful art of itself; some magnificent specimens of it exist the charter of
the law society for one but the arts are distinct and the characters dif-

ferent. The
only work in which the two frequently meet in these days,
and that combination a very fair reproduction, by the way, of
present in
these very charters and diplomas of which we are now treating, is the engross-
ment of those singularly worded documents in which a public body is wont
"
to inform an exalted personage, that they beg to approach her with the
profoundest, &c., &c., &c." in short, of an address.
There yet remains to mention another department of the art, which during
the last few years has become a very favourite and somewhat popular vehicle
"
for its revival and development. This is what is generally known as scroll

~>I
 DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION-. 19

work," under which head, though the title is strictly applicable to but one
sort, it is proposed to include, for convenience sake, all sorts of writing on,
or attached to walls. The growth of this department of the art may be easily
traced in connexion with the growth of intelligence and learning
generally.
In days when few besides ecclessiastics could read, it was a
very obvious mode
of instruction akin to what goes on now in the nursery and the infant school
to cover interior walls, and especially those of churches, with pictures, illus-
trating, either by actual historical events or in allegory, those moral and
religious lessons which it was desired to inculcate ; and many such fresco

paintings, as they are curiously enough called, have recently come to light
from under the coats of whitewash with which modern economy had carefully
covered them up and though this method of instruction, through the medium
of wall painting, never quite died out, and has been the subject of a noble re-
suscitation in these days, yet it was again obviously natural that, as people
more generally acquired the power of reading, and as, simultaneously, a

feeling against any sort of figures inside churches always except the lion
and unicorn of the Caroline days sprung up, those lessons which had hitherto
been pictorially should now be directly inculcated ; in short, that the picture
book should be laid aside for the grammar. There came to help a canon,
ordering the setting up of the Lord's Prayer, Creed, and Ten Commandments,
and thus by degrees texts of scripture came to appear along the string courses,
following the spring of the arches, or adorning the side walls, &c. Modern
architects have availed themselves largely of this custom ;
and in many modern
churches, not only are texts introduced as features in the architecture, but also
in quaintly-devised scrollsalong the walls, whilst the Creed, &c. have been made
the vehicle of elaborate ornamentation at the east end.
That most of these instructive adornments of the walls of churches, schools,
&c., are painted on the wall itself, and so in a manner are taken out of the

category of the art which is the peculiar subject of this work, by no means
TI
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-
i_ - - -

. . _ i -_-mjr_ i -IM-H -- i_-.

- - -- TAJ

20 DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.

deprives them of a place in it altogether, for they are all as truly specimens
and products of the art as what is executed on vellum or cardboard, only bear-
ing to the latter about the same relation as fresco painting does to the canvas
picture.
At Christmas time particularly, as well as on some other festive occasions, it

is not unusual to see an almost indefinite multiplication of this scroll work

executed on paper or cardboard, and sometimes in embroidery, affixed tempo-
rarily to the walls. Of these temporary decorations, which generally exhibit

strong internal evidence of their being the work of beginners, it would be ill-

natured to say more than that they are specimens rather of hearty zeal than of

good taste, and that a rudimentary acquaintance, even, with mediaeval examples,
might have saved them from inflicting pain on critical eyes, whilst they would
have been equally the admiration of the uninitiated.
A remarkable instance of this department of the art, and one not unworthy
of imitation, is to be found mentioned in the ' Expenses of Louis XI.,' in which
'

a sum is entered as paid to one ' Bourdichon, painter and illuminator,' for
'

having executed in Azure fifty large scrolls,' which the king had caused to be
set up in several places in Plessis du Pare, and on which was written, Mi'cri-
cordias Domini in aternum Cantabo, (I will sing the mercies of the Lord for

gold and Azure,

having painted and pourtrayed
'
ever ;)
and for and other in

colours, three angels, three feet high or thereabouts, each of which holds
one of these scrolls in his hand, and appears to be writing the aforesaid
Misericordta.'

This part of the subject must not be entirely abandoned without a passing
mention of what may, at first sight, appear hardly to form a legitimate de-
partment of the art, but which even a cursory examination of mediaeval
illuminated work will shew to have formed an integral and prominent feature
in it, and to be therefore fairly reckoned as a distinct section of it. This is

the Monogram* the most ancient of all ornamentation used in Christendom.

* See
example No. I.

$.=
 DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.

For on the walls of those catacombs, into which the persecuted Christians of
the earlier centuries of the Church's history at Rome descended to celebrate
their devotions and bury their dead, and the long unknown treasures of which
are still being brought to light, the same or nearly the same sacred monogram
is frequently be met with, as appears curiously twisted into the brilliant
to

initiatory pages of the earlier illuminated books, and a poor imitation of which
is stillbe seen adorning the front of many a red velvet altar cloth in our
to

English churches at this day. The use of the monogram, however, was far
more extended than this. In mediaeval times, almost every prince and great
man had the initial letters of his name woven into a monogram or device,
which appeared in his books, on his housings, on the badges of his domestics,
in the architecture of his everywhere, in short, where it could form
palace
a feature of ornament. Later on, the early printers each adopted one, and
the practice has been thus gradually handed down to our days, when the use of
them is becoming almost universal. It is a pretty and ingenious
department of the art, but requires some study of good models in
order to arrive at its principles, and prevent quaintness from

degenerating into clumsiness or absurdity.

N furnishing the beginner with some clue to the best styles for

study, there is considerable difficulty, arising from Fembarras

des riches ses. One of the best modern authorities on the art

enumerates no less than nine successive styles, exclusive of the

Italian, all of which, with a single exception, present distinct

features of beauty ;
and the larger work, by the same author,
presents three times that number of specimens. From such a
mass of materials as this, elimination is not easy. Nevertheless, for all the

purposes of this elementary work, need only be necessary to enumerate

it

four leading styles for study, leaving for any future and more advanced work

-.">-

i
JU
22
,

DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.

the filling up of the interstices between these four, and the more expanded
description of all.

The First may be referred to the earliest centuries of the introduction of

the art into this country, perhaps from the 6th to the 9th ;
its leading charac-
teristics, which are rather distinguished by quaintness than beauty, have been
well described as * an artistic and ingenious disposition of interwoven threads,

bands, or ribbons, of various colours, upon black or coloured grounds, varied by

the introduction of extremely attenuated lizard-like reptiles, birds, and other

animals, similarly treated.* The initials are frequently of enormous size, and
extreme intricacy.' A
frequent peculiarity is the practice of surrounding all

external outlines with rows of minute red dots.

The Second belongs to the loth and nth centuries, and has been already
alluded to as the opus Anglic urn. The general characteristics are, a border to the
whole text, constructed of parallel stripes, or bars of gold, between and around
which a style of foliage, in perfect harmony with the solidity of the framework,
intertwines itself in a graceful and quite peculiar manner, t
The Third may be referred generally to the i4th century, when, as has been
before remarked, the art reached culminating point, as far as chasteness
its

of design and elegance of execution were concerned. The period has been
well denominated 'a great artistic era, when the
architecture, the painting,
the goldsmith's work, the elaborate productions in enamel, and the illumi-
nator's art, were all in beautiful harmony, being each founded on similar
principles of design and composition.' It is not easy to lay down
any but a
few leading characteristics, as the specimens are as varied in constniction
as they are in the style of their One leading feature however is, the
beauty.
profuse use of what are technically called 'ivy leaves,' as an accessory to
borders and initials, and which,
tastefully handled, produce very much the
_ _ . - .

*
See Example No. i, f See Example No. 4.

;
 DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION. 23

effectof filagree work * miniatures and miniature scenes, coats of

arms, &c.,
are introduced at the corners of the page, and at proper intervals
along the
frame border ; tiny birds of gay plumage are perched here and there
among the
foliage; and the conventional acanthus begins to be associated with natural
flowers, &c., leading the way to
The Fourth style, or that in which richness and profuseness of decoration
reached their culminating point. The end of the i5th and beginning of the
1 6th centuries may claim this style of which though as of the last, it may
be truly said the varieties are countless the leading characteristic is the solid
border ; by
which is meant that the foliage, flowers, birds, animals, &c., which
hitherto formed an open border with no background, are now as it were
strewed about upon a carpet of gold, or of some good background colour,
the effect being heightened by the introduction of shading to 'throw up' the
objects pourtrayed.t
The Italian style of the i5th century to which alone reference will be here
made, is characterised more or less by all the peculiar beauties of the third
and fourth styles just described, but, as might have been expected with a
strong admixture of the classical element both in outline, foliage and general
treatment : in fact, it
may be described as consisting of these two styles cast in
a classical mould.
There is one species of illumination chiefly applicable to initials, quite unique
in its exquisite chasteness, for which we are indebted to Italy. It consists of

interlacing branches, quite white, laid upon a parti-coloured floor, the effect
being that a different colour appears through every adjoining interstice of the
branches. The background is frequently lightened by being strewed over with
white dots.
The Oriental style of illumination is principally characterised by a profuse
* See
fragment of Lectionary (Salisbury) British Museum, p. 27.
t See Examples 8 and 9.

I
i!

24 DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.

use of filagree work and gold, and by the introduction of numerous exquisitely-
finished miniatures and miniature pictures, in which it is not uncommon to find
the faces drawn on tiny disks of ivory, and attached to the page in situ.
Of the character employed in executing the text of an illuminated piece
of work, it may suffice to point out should agree chronologically
first, that it

with the style of illumination adopted ; next, that it should harmonize with
it in an artistic point of view ; and thirdly, that simple styles of character
are preferable.*

HE object of this introductory sketch being rather to lay

down general principles, leaving the student to work
them out than to follow him through the whole study,
for which, indeed, there is no space, it may be as well,

in the first instance, to point out the two leading errors into which
modern illuminators are apt to fall. The one is a slavish imita-
tion of mediaeval models ;
the other, the unrestrained indulgence
of the illuminator's own fancy. Both are vicious, though the
latter far more so than the former for the medieval illuminators
had real taste and artistic feeling ;
and the modern copyist, by his

slavish reproduction, unconsciously appropriates to himself what

they possessed ;
while the wandering about in the un-
other,
cultivated wilderness of his own ideas, picks up and piles together a mass of
Delamotte's Book of Ornamental Alphabets will be found an exceedingly useful guide in
selecting appropriate character.
 I
DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION. 25

incongruous materials of which, when he has completed the extraordinary

jumble, he cannot in the least comprehend why the result is so unsatisfactory.
But the fact is, illumination (like every other art) has its grammar, and that
grammar lies in the mediaeval books ; but when the grammar is mastered, there
is no reason why modern
intelligence should not be emancipated from the tram-
mels of everything but its fundamental principles.
The principle of the construction of a border, in the style of the celebrated
Hours of Anne of Brittany, may be strictly adhered to, for instance ; but the
and their treatment may be quite new. Nor because the figures intro-
details

duced into an Anglo-Saxon illuminated bible are generally dislocated about the
hips, and display a tendency to postures of the feet, impossible even to the most
flexible dancer, is it
necessary to reproduce in a modern illumination of the
same style the same unnatural distortions.
And
these remarks lead naturally to another, namely, that some study of the

principles of the harmonies of outline, of form, and above all ot colour, is essen-
tial to the successful study of the art of illumination.
Nor will anything more materially promote this study than a careful con-
sideration of the harmonies enumerated, as they are exhibited in nature, both
animal and vegetable, but particularly the latter, as something of a bower
seems the fundamental idea of all the better styles of the art. All sorts of
creeping plants, whether in the garden or the hedgerow ; all sorts of flowers,
exotic, native, or wild nay, fruits and many vegetables as parsley, notably

may be pressed with advantage into the service of the art whilst the grace- :

ful forms and beautiful plumage of the bird tribe, especially of the inhabitants
of the Tropics ; the equally brilliant though more delicate plumage of butterflies
and moths ;
the symmetrical contour and tasteful combinations of colour in many

quadrupeds ; and even the homelier insects which crawl about our fruit trees,
may be all studied with advantage. The old illuminators were frequently happy
to avail themselves of a caterpillar, or a lady bird, to break the monotony of a
4
 26 DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.

broad, flat space, or heighten the effect of a leaf, or balance a too obtrusive

colour in an opposite corner. Reptiles, too, may contribute much that is

exceedingly beautiful, both in outline and colour ; and in this respect again the
Tropics furnish the most brilliant specimens.
Besides the book of nature itself, then,all sorts of works
(with coloured
illustrations) on Botany and Zoology, may with advantage be consulted; nor
need Concbology be disregarded some of the more beautiful shells forming
;

admirable subjects of study for the illuminator. And where books are inac-
cessible, there is at any rate the department of Natural History, at the British
Museum, open to every one.

Lastly, it be useful to take every opportunity of marking how other

will

arts have treated the same subjects Architecture and Metal working par-
ticularly. Such observations will tend to shew above all how the principle
and idea of the natural may be translated into the conventional, without loss
of grace. The carvings in the capitals of some of the early English columns

supply the best instances.

For these last purposes the mediaeval courts of the Crystal Palace may be
made excellent schools as the Alhambra court, for the study of colour in

its richest combinations. The Kensington Museum might form

a general school for both.

E proceed next to furnish a catalogue of those specimens at the

British 'Museum which are best calculated to assist the beginner
in his studies.

=>:-
iE _
28 DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.

unb /rend) Specimens (continued.)

DATE. NAME OF SPECIMEN. POINTS TO BE NOTED. GUIDE

S P-
'

^ BOOK.*

1493. Les Chroniques de All are well worth King's Li-

France, studying, for the brary, 20 (KL.)
1493. Hours the use of
for beauty of the bor- Case X.
and the diocese of Rome ders, as well as for
1498. (Paris.) Pigouchet general arrange-
ment.
1493. L'Art et Science de A good specimen of Do.
Rhetorique (Paris.) the counterchanged Case VII. 13 (KL.)
border.

1470. Justinus's Abridgement Do. i9(KL.)

of Trogus. Borders and initials. Case X.
1471. Fichet Rhetoricorum Do. 19 (KL.)
libri. Case X.
 I
DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION. 29

aub (berniaii

[In the three first specimens selected, an instance will be observed of a species
of ornamentation to which the name of 'pottering' has been familiarly

applied ;
it consists of a sort of fringe to the initial and part of the text,

resembling in arrangement the 'bracket/ and in principle the flourishes

of a modern writing master; but when tastefully applied, it is remarkably

effective, and has the advantage of being very easy.]

PAGE IN
DATE. NAME OF SPECIMEN. POINTS TO BE NOTED.
WHERE TO BE GUIDE
FOUND.
KOOK.*

1455. The Mazarine Bible Initial, red and white Case III. i 7

1457. The Mentz Psalter. Initial and border Do. 3 8

1459. Do., (2nd edition) Do. Do. 4 8

1462. Bible in Latin. A peculiar and bold Do. 5 8

kind of initial.

1469. Livy. The white branch on Case VI. 2 1 1

parti-color'd ground
Cicero, Tusculanse Initial and bracket Do. 3 1 1

Questiones.
fa- The white branch, c. Do. 10 it
Cicero, Epistolae
miliares
&c. Border and initial. Do. 12 12
1470. Cicero, Epistobe,
1480. ^Esop's Fables. Border. Do. 8 n
1481. Liber Psalmorurm Border. Do. 9 "
All these specimens are in the King's Library.

>:

f
3 DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.

^taliau anb 6mnan Specimens (continucb.)

DATE. NAME OF SPECIMEN. POINTS TO BE NOTED. WHERE TO BE '

FOUND GUIDE
-
BOOK.*

1482. Euclid's Geometry. The white branch, on Case X. 5 19

parti-coloured back-
ground.
1484. Breviary of the Carnal- Border and initials. Case IX. i 16
dolese Monks.

1501. Martial Epigram- Border and picture. Case X. 7 19

mata.
1513. Aulus Gellius Noctes Border. Do. 20
19
Atticas.

Plautus Comedies. Do.

1514. Border, &c. 20 20

Specimen of a 6rant QitaUan.)

1494- Ludovico Maria The ornamental work Miscellaneous MS.
Sforza Visconti, which occupies the Autographs, 19, 20,
Duke of Milan, to his whole upper part of &c.
wife. this specimen is wor-

thy of minute and

careful study. It is

magnificent.
Ti
r >:

i Paper.
\ EVERAL obvious reasons combined in mediaeval days
to make vellum the almost exclusive vehicle for

illuminated writing. It was the substance on which

most manuscript
1
books were writ-
ten it was durable,
: and it took
both ink and colour well. It is still largely in use for the

purposes of illumination, and may be

had properly pre-
almost as well as at all artists'
pared at any stationer's,
colour shops. Any drawing paper with a smooth surface
also be used but the best substance of all is the
may ;

there should be
ordinary Bristol board, not too thick, for
some little elasticity three sheets thick is about the
most useful.

2 Co/ours. So much in illumination depends on (i)

the brilliancy and (2") the durability of the colours

employed, that too much care can hardly be displayed

in

their selection. Instances are numerous in which work

on which hours and hours of care and pains were be-
stowed, a few years ago, is now so faded as to be almost
unintelligible ; the reds have flown, the whites turned

brown, and a few hazy, blue marks are all that are left.

It is clear that they of old surpassed us in the preparation

of their colours. Some of the paintings in the ancient
 DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION. 33

temples of Egypt, which have been proved to be only water colour, are as
brilliant and fresh to-day as they were when laid on three thousand
years ago.
The exquisite miniatures and elaborate ornamentation of numbers of Oriental
manuscripts, five, six, seven, and more centuries old, retain all their original
beauty and gorgeousness; and the medieval office books, and other MSS. of
England, France, and Italy, especially those of the i4th century, are at this
day as much marvels of brilliant colouring as the stained glass windows of
the same periods. To the beginner, of course, the character of the colours

employed is not so important, as to more forward artists. Still it is wise

to exercise judgment in selection, even from the first, especially as in nine cases
out of ten a cake of colour will last for years. The best course is to make
the purchases at one of the best artists' colour shops, to eschew all made up'
'

colours, and to rely on the eye for producing at home the several gradations
of hue, by mixing the primal colours on the slab. Comparatively few are really
required ; and as illuminating is a very different art from ordinary water-colour
drawing, and requires a peculiar texture of matter, the colours most fitted
forit are not always the same as those in ordinary use. The following will be
found the most serviceable :

REDS. YELLOWS it BROWNS. SILVERS.

Indian yellow
Scarlet vermillion Gamboge The most durable mode
Crimson vermillion Sepia of producing this most
Crimson lake The mixed with
latter delicate and sensitive
Carmine lake, makes a good of all colours, is to use
The two last for the shadow colour, and platina, or aluminum,
deeper hues, and for shows well on reds, and burnish after-
'

shading. or on gold. wards. See Tricks.'

 34 DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.

of (Colours (continued.)

BLUES. BLACKS. WHITES.

Chinese white is the
Ultramarine Indian ink
most brilliant and
Permanent blue This will be found the
stands best.
The latter for the deep- most generally useful.
er hues, and for shad- Ivory black and lamp
black are both good
GOLDS.
ing.
The ordinary shell gold ;
blacks ; but genuine
but it will be found
Indian ink is as good,
NEUTRAL TINTS, most economical to
or better, and has the
PURPLES, &c.
purchase it in the lar-
advantage of working
Permanent blue, mixed ger quantities, as sold
well in the pen, which
with lake, will be in Porcelain pans and
the others will not do.
found best suited for saucers. There is also
illumination. The a gold medium, the
neutral tint sold in use of which as well
the shops is too GREENS. as of the agate bur-

heavy, so is that or- Emerald green nisher, will be ex-

dinarily made up of Use permanent blue for plained under the head
indigo and light red.
'
the shading. of Tricks.'

-A -

id
 I
DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.
35

pencils, jgeus. graining ^instruments.

The pencil being only used for sketching the subjects, those marked F, H, and
HH, will be found sufficient. A
few ordinary fine-pointed steel pens will do
very well for outlining. For the benefit of any learner not conversant with
the use of the pen with colour, it
may be added that the method is, to mix
the colour, very liquid, in a
saucer; and then filling a camel's hair brush with
some, to draw the brush across the shoulder of the pen, which is to be held
with the open part upwards. It will be found that colour is thus enough
scraped off, as it were, to charge the pen :
by a similar method the drawing
pen is
charged.
It be well to have a drawing pen, a pair of compasses with pen and
will

pencil legs, a few drawing pins ; a drawing board, 2 feet by 18 inches, or

smaller; a T square; three set squares (one 45, the other two 70? and 20)
and respectively 3 inches, 6 inches, and 9 inches in length. The latter will be
tound more practically useful than all sorts of parallel rulers ;
but as their use is

not generally familiar to any but architectural and engineering draftsmen, it may
be useful to add an explanation of it
Having adjusted the cardboard by means of the T square on the drawing
board, secure it by pins. To draw any number of parallel lines it is now merely
necessary to lay the T square across the cardboard, in a direction perpendicular
to that of the desired lines, taking care, of course, that the cross piece of the T
is well against the edge of the drawing board, and kept firm by a weight ;
and
then keeping one side of the set square against the side of the T, to slide it
up
and down as occasion shall require.
It will be found very useful both for keeping the T square steady, and for
tracing and other purposes, to have a couple of small weights lead is the

best material about the size of a child's large toy brick, or say 3 inches

long, 2 inches wide, and an inch deep. Any plumber can cast them.

"
36 UELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.

Cover each of them with a piece of foolscap, or other paper not too smooth,
foldingit up like a parcel, and sealing the ends down on the upper side. The
advantage of this plan is, that the envelope can be removed and renewed as
it gets dirty. Handles to weights, or thick weights, are a mistake ; they catch
the hand.
As greater neatness and accuracy in curves are sometimes necessary than can
be attained by any but the most practised hand, it will be found useful to have
a few French curves; these can be procured at any artists' colour shop, or

drawing instrument makers.

Three brushes will be enough. Washing, as in water-colour drawing,
being never used in illuminating, no large brushes are needed ; the largest
need not be more than half the size of a lead pencil, the second of course
smaller, and the third a very fine one. They should be of sable ;
and care-

fully selected for firmness, compactness, even point, and absence of straggling
hair.

A slab or palette for the colours, and a separate saucer or slab for Indian ink
should be provided.
It will be necessary also to have an ivory point for tracing off, and a small

agate for burnishing and other purposes ; both are to be procured at the artists'
colour shop.
Of course tracing paper will be required the French is the best as well
as a sheet of red paper for tracing off. Red paper, though readily procurable
in the artists' colour shops,and perhaps most conveniently so, is nevertheless
simply and easily constructed. Any one who is desirous of making his own,
has merely to take a sheet of foreign post paper, scrape a piece of red chalk
over it, and then rub in with a piece of soft chamois leather or wadding,
until the paper is evenly covered, not making it too thick, or it will trace off

clumsy lines.
I. L
DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION. 37

HE beginner being now furnished with all necessary

materials, the shortestand most comprehensible way of
instructing him in the use of them, will be to take two
or three of our own examples, and ask him to follow us
y
%N/- 1tHrough the process of executing them. To take a very simple
one first, we will select any one of the in No. 3.
letters
The piece of carboard is supposed to be laid on the drawing
board, and kept steady by a single pin in the centre of its upper
/I side, there being no need for perfect rigidity as there are no
) squaring or parallel lines in this illumination. Proceed to trace
the initial from the example by laying a piece of tracing paper
^
> over it, with weights to steady it, the same weights may be

easily so arranged as to keep the book open as well. Run over

every line with your softest pencil with a fine point, and a light
hand. Remove
the tracing paper, and adjust it over the card-

board, s*b as to bring the tracing over the desired spot. Adjust the weights,
slip the red paper underneath, take your ivory point and begin tracing off ;
and of this, let it be remarked, that nothing but practice can give the begin-
ner the requisite skill to make a good tracing. A
heavy hand, or a broad point
will produce a coarse tracing ; too light a hand, too faint a tracing, and too

fine a point will cut through the tracing paper. It will be well to make a
few tiials first, and even during the progress of a tracing, especially if it be
an elaborate one, to lift the lower corner of the tracing paper carefully now
and then, so as not to disturb the weights, and to see that all is going on as it

should. The tracing being complete, proceed next to outline it in Indian ink,
with a pen. For this purpose prepare some ink in the manner already de-
scribed, on its separate slab. The ink outline should be complete strong and

r
1
38 DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.

weak where needed, as in the outline illustration of our specimen, and should
be clean and firm all this while keep a clean piece of paper under the work-
ing hand.
The outline being completed, the next thing will be to prepare the colours.
For either of the initial letters in Example 3, red, green, and gold are the

only colours needed; and this may be the most suitable place for introduc-

ing a few words about what is technically called 'body colour.' Body
colour is very largely used in all ancient illumination, whether English,
French, Italian, or Oriental ;
but is most prominently observable in the Italian.
It is obtained by simply mixing a small quantity of some opaque substance
with the colour. Zinc, or Chinese white, are most commonly employed
for the purpose ; and the best mode of construction is to have the white
in one of the metal tubes, squeeze a drop about the size of a pea on to
the slab, and then rub the colour over it. Of course it be necessary to will

introduce some colour a darker than the hue desired, as the white will
little

lighien it thus for instance, in order to obtain an ordinary blue, it will be

:

necessary to add a touch or two of permanent blue, or the ultramarine will

turn out too pale. The advantages of body colour are twofold first.
body colour will lie flat ; next, being opaque, it can when needful be worked over
other colour.
For the purposes of the illumination now under consideration then, it will

merely be necessary to rub in scarlet vennillion and emerald green. Be

careful to rub plenty, for
a rule in illuminating that the colours should
it is

be laid on thick and powerful; there are no faint transparent tints, as in

water-colour drawing, but even in miniature scenes, light colours are obtained
not by diluting the colour with water, but by adding white to it. Another
rule is, to lay on the largest body of colour first thus in the instance before
:

us put in the reds, taking care to lay on plenty of colour, to keep within
first

the ink outline carefully, close to it but not encroaching on it, and to see that
 DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION. 39

'

your colour lies evenly or flat.' Next, put in the greens, observing the same
rules, and finally the gold, for it is another rule to leave the gold to the last to
avoid rubbing as much as possible.
Our next example will be No. 7. Trace and outline as before. Proceed
next to put in the ultramarine blues in the acanthus and flowers ; next the
permanent blue in the darker hues of both as well as in the initial, taking
care, both in acanthus and flowers, to keep the curves clean and bold. Now
colour the green leaves with emerald green, the darker lines as directed with

permanent blue. The reds in the flowers follow next all, except that in
the right hand lower corner with crimson lake, the darker hues being
touched in with permanent blue, which, combining with the lake, will pro-
duce the neutral tint before referred to. The excepted corner flower will
require crimson vermillion, shaded with sepia and lake. Crimson vermillion
will also furnish the colour for the red flowers in the initial. Lastly, put in the

golds, shading with sepia and lake.

The last Example we select is No. 9. Here, as in No. 3, proceed to trace, &c.
as directed, only in this case the T square and set squares will come into play

for the outlines of the border, both in tracing, tracing off,and in outlining
use the drawing pen for the last. The fruit, flowers, &c. must next be care-

fully executed with the requisite colours, according

to the table given above ; the
over the gold with a neutral
gold then laid on, and afterwards the shade worked
tint, made of sepia and lake, as directed.

.%

1
I
40 DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.

HERE are a few

'
Tricks' which will be found generally
useful to bear in mind. The agate is a useful auxiliary ;

with the side of it

you can burnish your golds and silvers

(platina) by gently rubbing them until they acquire the requisite

brilliancy; and with the point of it several very pretty methods
of breaking and enriching a flatgold or silver surface may be put in
force, either by covering it with dots, or with dots in combina-
tion with straight or curved lines ; or with a sort of Arabesque

work, or indeed, with any sort of pattern according to the

designer's fancy.
Sparks of white may be with advantage introduced to throw up
the edge of a leaf, or the most prominent portion of a stalk, or even
to bring out the lighter edge of a letter from the background. In the latter case
be careful not to obliterate the outline. The white should come just outside it,
and between it and the background.
A
large initial or surface of heavy colour may be very easily lightened by
the introduction of a powdering of minute gold dots. These may be pro-
duced by laying on the dots, first of all, with either Chinese white, or with
an article sold in the artists' colour shops, called the gold medium ;
and in
either case touching the dots, when
dry, with shell gold. The effect will be that
they will stand out in strong relief from the ground on which they are laid, and
will produce a very rich effect.
 DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.

INALLY, whilst observing the general rule to keep your

work as flat as possible, be careful that it do not de-
generate into tameness rather than this and especially
with foliage, fruit, flowers, &c. do not be afraid to
introduce into the deepest corners of the heaviest
shades good, strong, telling touches, of almost black
colour.
But above all, when in a difficulty, study the specimens
enumerated above ;
rather err on the side of imitation
than of invention.
The second point is the parallel of the first, in con-
nexion with what may be called the manipulatory
G/ part Here again we must warn our
of the treatise.

book is but a Primer.

readers that the The work
already referred to contains no less than seven and twenty imperial octavo
pages, about colours and gilding, and brushes, and other practical matters.
This will furnish some idea of the magnitude of this part of the subject. But
our little volume merely pretends to put beginners in the way of acquiring
the power of learning more. And let us here remark, that in some particulars
the colours selected, and thegiven differ, we observe, from the
directions
recommendations of other writers ; and without therefore pretending for one
moment to sit in judgment on those who differ with us, we will take the liberty
of informing readers that our directions are based on the experience and
observations of many years' extensive practice of the art in question. ^e
may also add that, though the Primer is intended to enable beginners to teach

themselves, (and directions are carefully attended to, will have that effect,)
if its

when directions under the

still it is advisable, practicable, to carry out those

eye of a master at first, even if such supervision only amount to submitting

.'A'-

t
42 DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION.

to him the results of the earlier efforts, that he may point out the secrets of any
failures.

Above all, the golden rule for the student of illumination is, not to attempt
too much at first. Far more real progress is made by carefully, patiently, and

accurately completing a single copy of one simple letter, such

for example

as the X in Example No. 3, than in hurrying over half a dozen more ambitious

studies, in a way which may produce a certain effect at a distance, but will
'
not bear looking into. Like Burke, rather aim to be slow and elaborate,'
than dashing and effective ; but be industrious, and let your motto be,
" Festiaa lente"

In conclusion, itas well to impress upon the reader two points

may be the :

first is, a mere repetition of the introductory sentences of our

in great part,

little volume, but cannot be too repeatedly urged on his attention. There is
no pretension whatever in this slight practical essay, to give anything ap-
proaching to a complete dissertation on the art of illumination such a task ;

would occupy a score of such volumes as ours, and be then capable of almost
illimitable further expansion. We have indeed already remarked that the
subject is inexhaustible ;
and the last notable work published on the art well

observes, that
'
men of the profoundest learning have devoted, some whole
lives, and many of them long years, to the study of those precious pages, on

the decoration of which the highest efforts of the illuminists of old were
lavished and have yet one and all confessed the partial and incomplete
;

mastery of the subject which they, with all their labour, have been able to
acquire.' It is not to be expected, therefore, that within the comparatively

f'ny dimensions of a Primer anything more than the merest outline was prac-

ticable, all that has been attempted then has been to furnish just such a
description and dissertation as is
absolutely essential to the due comprehension
of what the art is, and of what it is applicable to, leaving the student to
search for further information among such of the larger and more abstruse

-A-
>:

DELAMOTTE'S PRIMER OF ILLUMINATION. 43

works on the subject, as may be accessible to him at the reading room of the
British Museum,* or elsewhere. Even at the risk
of being accused of re-
petition, it has been thought wise to impress this point strongly on the reader's
attention. His motto should be an amalgamation of two well known ones

* \Ve have, to our surprise, found so much misconception abroad on the subject, that we
think it worth while to inform our lady readers that in this room there are seats specially set

apart for ladies.

 JJJtfttiltt.

HE following Extract from a Letter to the Editor, gives a general

and comprehensive view of all the old service books, as far as
illumination is concerned :

" I think where and when the Missal came into use as an altar book, the
Breviary was compiled as a Morning, Day and Evening Service-book, for
use in the Quire, as well as for the private recitation of the several offices.
The Gradual was to the Missal what the Antiphonary was to the Breviary.
I think the main books of private devotion were the Horse B. M. V. I do
not think that the common Horae or Hour-books, which were simply Breviaries
without lessons, were ever popular, or even of much use among the laity.
When the great Colbert would have a book to himself, he compiled a brief

Breviary, i.f., a Breviary abbreviated. Men of more unction and less sense
used "'Hours of the Blessed Virgin,' and they were often, especially in the Calendar, very

gorgeously illuminated. Horas Diurncc or Diurnales were hand-books for clerks, to say all the
hours from, except matins ; they were easy to carry. Indeed, my experience of illuminated
books has run thus :

Hortz B. M. V. These seem to me most numerous and elaborate in the I5th and l6th
century work.
Evangelisteria. Books of Gospels next, of very much older execution.
Missalia. Comparatively recent ; rich in the Canon and Preface illuminations.
Breviaria richly and profusely illuminated are really scarce. One wonders at it ; but so it

is.
Every now and then a handsome I5th or l6th century Breviary, commonly of French
art, turns up, but not very frequently, and then not prodigally illuminated.

I have been told that some of the huge Spanish Graduals or Mass Anthem books are
grandly
illuminated in the way of capitals. I have seen several mutilated copies which seem to affirm
the same thing."
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3310
A primer of the art of
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illumination. . . .

Rare